Computers today have several different types of external ports, such as USB, HDMI, DVI, VGA and PCIe, in addition to one or more power jacks. This is cumbersome for use and also adds costs since many different ports are provided when only a portion of them are typically used simultaneously.
In order to overcome this problem, a multi-purpose connector, called a “Type C” connector has been developed, which allows for a single port type for all the different data and power connections. FIG. 1A illustrates a high level perspective view of a user device 10, comprising a plurality of multi-purpose ports 20; FIG. 1B illustrates a high level schematic diagram of a printed circuit board (PCB) 30 of user device 10, comprising a processor 40 and a cross-connect circuitry 50; and FIG. 1C illustrates a high level schematic diagram of cross-connect circuitry 50 in accordance with the prior art, FIGS. 1A-1C being described together. PCB 30 comprises: processor 40; cross-connect circuitry 50; and a control circuitry 60. Cross-connect circuitry 50 comprises: a transmultiplexer 55; a plurality of receivers 70; and a plurality of output drivers 80. Each receiver 70 comprises an adaptive equalizer 75. In one embodiment, multi-purpose ports 20 are each Type C ports. In another embodiment, adaptive equalizers 75 are each implemented as a continuous time linear equalizer (CTLE).
Each of a plurality of pins of processor 40 are coupled to a respective receiver 70 or output driver 80 of cross-connect circuitry 50, via lines 90, it being understood that line 90 is not a physical line but rather a communication channel of the meeting the appropriate definition. Particularly, each one, or set, of lines 90 are arranged to transmit data of a different type, e.g. USB, DisplayPort DP and PCIe. Each pin of each multi-purpose port 20 is coupled to a respective receiver 70 or output driver 80, it being understood that the term pin is meant to include any connection form for connection of electrical signals from inside the respective device to circuitry external of the respective device. An output of control circuitry 60 is coupled to a control input of transmultiplexer 55 and each of a plurality of inputs of control circuitry 60 is coupled to a respective one of the plurality of multi-purpose ports 20 (connections not shown for simplicity).
In operation, when a device is connected to a multi-purpose port 20, control circuitry 60 is arranged to identify the pins of processor 40 which are associated with the device and control cross-connect circuitry 50 to provide a path between the multi-purpose port 20 and the respective pins of processor 40. For example, if the device is a USB drive, control circuitry 60 detects the USB protocol. Control circuitry is further arranged to control transmultiplexer 55 to couple the receivers 70 and output drivers 80 which are coupled to the respective multi-purpose port 20 to the receivers 70 and output drivers 80 which are coupled to the lines 90 which are coupled to the USB pins of processor 40. Adaptive equalizers 75 of receivers 70 are arranged to equalize the transmitted signals to reduce noise. Particularly, adaptive equalizers 75 allow proper equalization even though different lengths of cables are used for connecting external devices to multi-purpose ports 20.
Unfortunately, having an adaptive equalizer 75 for every receiver 70 of cross-connect circuitry 50 consumes a large amount of power and significantly increases the size of cross-connect circuitry 50. The size increase and increased power consumption inhibits the introduction of multi-purpose ports 20 into computers, especially laptop computers.
What is desired, and not provided by the prior art, is a multi-purpose connector cross-connect system which is reduced in size and consumes less power.